TSR settling scores?
With all the heavyweight ministers of Dhami cabinet and senior leaders including the BJP state chief Madan Kaushik getting stuck in their own constituencies, former chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat is the only one from the elite club of former CMs of saffron party who along with incumbent CM Puskar Singh Dhami is actively campaigning for the party candidates. TSR who surprisingly withdrew from the electoral field has thrown his complete might to get his protégé Brij Bhushan Gairola elected from his bastion of Doiwala. He is addressing virtual rallies and physically campaigning in some constituencies even as many former CM’s of BJP are watching the contest from the sidelines. However his unique campaigning style is causing some discomfiture to the camp followers of CM Dhami. In Rajpur TSR asked people to vote for party’s veteran and Dalit face Khajan Das and added that Das could be the next CM of the state. Similarly in Haridwar he exhorted the party workers to ensure victory of the state BJP chief Kaushik as he could be the CM in the event of the party getting 60 plus seats. It appears as if TSR is teasing his own party for having removed him unceremoniously and without any concrete reason.
BJP’s Ace?
With only ten days remaining for the polling date in the Himalayan state, the old spirit of the minority appeasement has come back to haunt the Congress party and its tallest leader Harish Rawat. It started with a statement of a disgruntled leader belonging to minority community- he was persuaded by the party to withdraw his nomination from Sahaspur assembly constituency in support of official candidate- in which he claimed that the party leadership has promised him that a Muslim university would be set up in the case of Congress coming to the power. Engaged in a tough electoral battle with Congress in Uttarakhand, the BJP gleefully made the statement an instrument to browbeat Rawat and label him pro Muslim. It also took out an old order in which the employees of Muslim community were given a relaxation of 90 minutes on Fridays for offering Namaz by Harish Rawat government. Bamboozled by the Muslim appeasement charge in a state where Hindus are in an overwhelming majority the leadership of Congress has come into a fire- fighting mode and is now steadfastly maintaining that Muslim university issue is not in its agenda.
In ruins
The internal squabbles, clash of personal interests of its so-called leaders and complete lack of vision has virtually destroyed the regional outfit, Uttarakhand Kranti Dal (UKD). The party which used to take pride in representing the regional aspiration of the people of Uttarakhand has reached to such a stage that in the ensuing elections it has failed to field candidates in all the 70 assembly constituencies in the state. Interestingly, while the party could find only 49 candidates to contest, it has released a list of 30 star campaigners for the elections. With tongue firmly in cheek one sceptic pointed out that it would be an achievement of sorts if the candidates of the moribund regional outfit are able to secure as many votes as the numbers of the star campaigners in their respective constituencies in the elections.
